Veteran journalist/sportswriter

Portland, Oregon

Mike Tokito

Featured

HILLBORO - Three years into their effort to bring minor-league baseball to the Portland suburbs, the Hillsboro Hops continue to make strides on and off the field. On Thursday, the Hops begin play in the Northwest League championship series for the second year in a row, hosting Tri-City in their final home game of 2015.

A day after a seemingly simple mistake cost her an unprecedented athletic feat, Caroline Inglis was coping -- a little mad, still disappointed but gradually accepting what had happened. On Tuesday, the senior at Eugene's Churchill High School was disqualified from the Oregon Class 5A state high school golf tournament for signing an incorrect scorecard.

scored 25 points for the Trail Blazers in a loss at Utah. It was one of his last chances to make a case for being selected to his first NBA All-Star Game, a berth he remained unsure he would get until the Western Conference team was announced nine days later. On the same day, Damian Lillard was in Ogden, Utah, where he was leading the nation in scoring as a Weber State junior.

As the NCAA Tournament kicks into gear around the country Thursday, many of the marquee players will be freshmen who, between the second round and the April 6 championship game, will play their final college game. The NBA in 2005 agreed to limit draft eligibility to players who are 19 and who had seen at least one full NBA season pass since their high school classes graduated.

If you're a fan or feel any connection to the Trail Blazers, take a moment today before diving into work or Halloween activities for a little thought or prayer for the Enforcer. Four years ago today, Maurice Lucas, who figuratively and literally was one of the giants in Oregon sports, died after a long, tough battle with bladder cancer.

Clues that reveal what makes Ellen Secor tick can be found in her golf bag, one that’s unusually heavy for a high school golfer. There are, of course, the clubs, including a driver that she hits longer than most junior golfers, and a putter with an oversized grip that helps her roll in birdie putts.

On Saturday at Providence Park, Jason Talley will be a main center of attention as the tailback for the Jesuit Crusaders, who play Sheldon in a Class 6A semifinal game. Five years ago, he would not have imagined being, or even wanting to be, in that spot. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior is one of the state’s star players, a powerful, deceptively fast runner whose physical style embodies the Crusaders’ smash-mouth philosophy.

In 1995, the Trail Blazers moved into a new, state-of-the-art arena called the Rose Garden. At the time, the Blazers and owner Paul Allen bucked a trend in professional sports by not selling the building naming rights, with then-team president Marshall Glickman declaring, "It just didn't seem like the Portland thing to do."

Joe Becker had never been to the West Coast when he flew to Portland in 1984 to interview for a job as a sportscaster with KGW, the local NBC affiliate. In August, Becker had his 30-year anniversary with KGW, a remarkably long run in an industry where the only constant is change. When Becker started, the late Jack Ramsay was still the Trail Blazers coach, and Becker would rap out scripts for stories on the Blazers and other athletes on a typewriter.

EUGENE - The storybook not only had a happy, even delirious ending, but also came with incredible drama for the Oregon Ducks. Oregon, the host team, playing in a front a large, loud home crowd at Eugene Country Club, won its first NCAA men's golf team title, with a local kid making a dramatic putt in a playoff to give the Ducks a 3-2 win over Texas in the match play final.

Of all of the things that happened during his epic championship match against Tiger Woods in the 1996 U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Steve Scott wishes one thing had gone differently: lunch. As in, he wishes he and Woods had skipped the 90-minute midway break during the 36-hole match and just kept playing.

Friday morning, Chandler Parsons said the Houston Rockets believed they were the better team in their first-round series against Portland and hoped to prove it by beating the Trail Blazers in Game 6 at the Moda Center. Instead of returning home for Game 7, Parsons and the other Rockets sat in the visiting locker room at the Moda Center on Friday night in disbelief after Damian Lillard made a three-point shot just before the final buzzer to give Portland a 99-98 win and a 4-2 series victory.

About

Mike Tokito

Award-winning veteran sportswriter who has covered just about every sport under the sun. Recent focus has been the NBA, Trail Blazers and golf, but have also covered high schools and colleges. Also an experienced line editor capable to helping talented writers turn good work into very good, even great, work.